The St. Joseph City Council approved at Monday night’s meeting an intergovernmental agreement to kick-start levee repairs.

According to St. Joseph Mayor Bill Falkner, the repairs to the Missouri River Levee System, needed since the flood of 1993, will be funded a variety of different ways. The Corp of Engineers will put a large part of the funding toward the project, along with the cities, counties and levee districts. Also a quarter-cent (corrected) sales tax will be put on the ballot which, if approved by voters, would also help pay a portion of the project. The total cost of the project is over $60 million.

Also Monday night, a public hearing was held before the meeting to address the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnership funds. Falkner said no one offered comments at the public hearing. The bill passed to submit the Second Year Annual Plan for the CDBG and HOME funds to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The funds are slated to be distributed to St. Joseph organizations including the Northwest Missouri Children’s Advocacy Center and the YWCA. To view the entire proposal, click here.